making remixes (using accapellas)

[Ash Holmz]

ive noticed in the showcase alot that people seem to be having timing issue with remixes... i wanted to share some techniques for getting the timing down pat...

what not to do: get an accapella, put it in one of those "instant bpm programs" then throw it on a beat with the same tempo ... *weak*


first... get the original ....listen to it carefully all the way through .. pay attention to the timing .. when the verses end, chorus begins.. etc

then get the accapella ...

to get the "real" bpm ....loop a section of the original song seamlessy...then crop it.... be careful tho .. somesongs actually have breaks that are diffrent tempos .. when in doubt, loop the break too ... by looping them seamlessy u get the tempo accuraelty. it takes more work than using a beat calculator but in the long run its more accurate.


now u know the tempo ... pick a beat that fits the feel of the lyrics.. or make one


now the tricky part .. actually using your ears!!! .. I always line my accapellas up manually ... to be honest if u cant get it right u prolly shouldnt be producing.. use ur ears.. just beacuase ur have the correct tempo doesnt neccesarily mean that it will automatically line up right.. sometimes u have to nudge it one way or another ... sometimes the beat doesnt start on "1" or it has an off tempo intro .. the point is to use ur ears! what i usually do is revert back to the original recording to see excatly where the artist comes in ... then mimick it on my remix... THE EXACT SAME SPOT is the key.


listen to the whole thing! it may be ok the first verse but then by the end of the song ur offbeat .. keep at it and do it proper... again listen to the original and then to yours .. u should be right on point..

thats just the way i do it ... there are a bunch of techniques including the traditional "two turntables method" but i find that getting the "real" tempo of the original then maunally lining up the acapella is the most natural sounding way to do it...

feel free to share any methods u guys use .. cuz some of yall need help! lol

 

[afriquedeluxe]

What i do isnt that much different. I drop the acapella in Logic. Setup a 4bar/8bar loop and get the chorus to fit it by adjusting the tempo. The more you do it, the faster you get. I used to do the tempo match with ear but you can even actually do it visually, by noting where the hook starts and where it should end, and adjusting the tempo accordingly, to get the wave to fit the 4/8bar region.

Once thats set, add drums, whatever and start on the beat with the vocals playing.

 

[Sacred One]

very nice man, not that i do remixes but if i ever do, i will refer back to this

 

[Ruimixx]

Guilty

to be honest if u cant get it right u prolly shouldnt be producing.l

Damn, the truth hurts. I'm not good at synching up acappellas. Good post Ash. I'm gonna use this advice to get my shit together.

Peace.

 

[classic]

yep thats what i do as well... get a loop of the orginal song, find the bpm.. looop tha chours or something and throw some drums on it and start from there.. its been a minute since ive made a remix though.. i may need to get on that...

 

[thedreampolice]

totally, I actually chop the vocal up to each phrase then slide it in place.

 

[Fade]

What I usually do is the way I used to do it when I would mix on the turntables - line up the instrumental of the acapella's song with my beat, then simply put the acapella over my beat. Of course I still have to go by ear, but this way is a good foundation to get started.

 

[MarkN]

this is what i do, and i know how to line up an acapella perfectly ! if theres one thing i have is a ridiculously accurate ear for timing, which i learnt thru DJing !

i just play the acapella and have my MPC on ill just have the click going on the MPC and ill play about with the BPM trying to match it to the acapella when i've got it (it doesn't have to be 100% as long as its 99%)
i'll make my sequences on my MPC at that tempo then i'll track them to pro tools throw the acapella in pro tools! line the acapella up and then listen thru and maybe have to jig a few parts around and/or timestretch parts of it and then done !

 

[MourninDaKnight]

my choices of acapellas haven't been the easiest to do this with since some weren't even done using a beat in the first place.....

this is so tedius because i end up timestretching and shifting both the vocals and the beat over and over again until it ends up in a way i like

besides listening i do this visually as well by paying attention to the wave forms

 

[Relic]

This is my one weakness...ok one of my weaknesses....I do all that Ash, then take a break ask 5 people and come back to it and I have it!
Its not as easy as one would think...

 

[wrightboy]

i do the same thing Ash does...good post

 

[Relic]

In fact the looping thing to find a beat tempo always works for a sample and is a really good technique!

 

[Rich]

Everybody has there way of doing this. I used to play the acapella in WM player, then tap out the tempo on the mp; then just build from there.

 

[Hi-Lo]

www.bpmdatabase.com

really, if you're doing a mainstream acapella, you should never waste your time manually finding the tempo, just search the artist, song title, and "bpm" on google or use the above website. i'd say you'll find 90% of what you're looking for using that.

also if you use logic, there are a couple of built in features specifically for this...using the adjust tempo to region length and locators, you can change the global tempo of your track once you just tell logic what a bar or two of the acapella is, so it can judge its bpm, or you can use the reverse function in time machine to time stretch (with no pitch change) the acapella to your song bpm.

oh and one BIG lesson i've learned the hard way; sometimes, especially with r&b, you have to make sure the acapella melodically fits your beat! if the singer is singing in a completely different key than your beat is in, you can have all the timing in the world and the remix can still sound horrible. i don't know enough at this point to say how to pick out a specific key but you should be able to tell if a singer is in tune with your track or not.

 

[afriquedeluxe]

www.bpmdatabase.com

really, if you're doing a mainstream acapella, you should never waste your time manually finding the tempo, just search the artist, song title, and "bpm" on google or use the above website. i'd say you'll find 90% of what you're looking for using that.

also if you use logic, there are a couple of built in features specifically for this...using the adjust tempo to region length and locators, you can change the global tempo of your track once you just tell logic what a bar or two of the acapella is, so it can judge its bpm, or you can use the reverse function in time machine to time stretch (with no pitch change) the acapella to your song bpm.

oh and one BIG lesson i've learned the hard way; sometimes, especially with r&b, you have to make sure the acapella melodically fits your beat! if the singer is singing in a completely different key than your beat is in, you can have all the timing in the world and the remix can still sound horrible. i don't know enough at this point to say how to pick out a specific key but you should be able to tell if a singer is in tune with your track or not.

Damn i just realised how noobish i am at logic, didnt know of those features, are they in logic express too? the adjust tempo to region?

As for the singing thing, great thing is 99% of the songs are actually in one of the 12 major keys, or 12 minor. However i did come across an accapella that did not fit any of them, i had to tune the acapella up by a few cents before it eventually fell in the key of F. Am thinking a dj speed it up on vinly before ripping the acapella maybe, or the instrumental was pitch shifted slighty.

 

[Hi-Lo]

Damn i just realised how noobish i am at logic, didnt know of those features, are they in logic express too? the adjust tempo to region?

As for the singing thing, great thing is 99% of the songs are actually in one of the 12 major keys, or 12 minor. However i did come across an accapella that did not fit any of them, i had to tune the acapella up by a few cents before it eventually fell in the key of F. Am thinking a dj speed it up on vinly before ripping the acapella maybe, or the instrumental was pitch shifted slighty.

i'm not sure if they're in logic express since i haven't used it, but off the top of my head you can find those commands in the arrange window--> options menu-->tempo--> "adjust tempo to region length and locators" and click globally when the dialog window pops up (that is the first technique). if i remember right that other technique is right there in that same menu (another way to look for the command if it isn't there is to search in the key commands window, that will tell you if its in logic express, because its possible some of the menus are different in that program).

 

[afriquedeluxe]

i'm not sure if they're in logic express since i haven't used it, but off the top of my head you can find those commands in the arrange window--> options menu-->tempo--> "adjust tempo to region length and locators" and click globally when the dialog window pops up (that is the first technique). if i remember right that other technique is right there in that same menu (another way to look for the command if it isn't there is to search in the key commands window, that will tell you if its in logic express, because its possible some of the menus are different in that program).

Found it! Thanks man!!!

 

[MarkN]

YES! thats another good point !

the amount of so called 'remixes' i hear people do when the beat is completely the wrong key ! i mean come on ! thats the basics getting it the right tempo and the right key !
it amazes sometimes how many 'producers' cannot tell that an acapella is out of tune/key by an absolute mile (km for everyone in the us lol)

 

[Beatz 101]

I usually make sure my beat and the acapella is in sync damn near 100%. Every now and then i may use time stretch if the acappella is off .5 or sumthin'. But rarely

And i usually cut every hook and verse up into seperate files.


As for RnB....HELL NO. I hate remixing R&B cuz it MUST be a perfect fit. You might as well actually sell the beat to a real singer and make a brand new song.:headscrat

 

[StressWon]

it all goes by the person doin the remix, my thing is choppin up the vocals and placin them approprietly. That's a must wit remixin Nas,,,right Rel? LOL